It is commonly required in many environments, such as home or office, to paint one surface without desiring to place paint inadvertently or otherwise on an adjacent surface. In many instances, the adjacent surface is at right angles to the painted surface--thus presenting the problem of being able to paint into the corner formed therebetween. In many cases, if paint is inadvertently placed on the adjacent surface, damage thereto may result or the surface may have to be cleaned at great expense. For example, wall-to-wall carpeting on a floor may contact the bottom of a wall to be painted. If paint is placed on the carpet, the carpet may have to be replaced or entirely removed and cleaned. As a further example, a hardwood floor may meet a painted wall at its bottom. Commonly, quarter round strips are placed in the corner for aesthetic purposes. If it is desired to paint the quarter round strips, then care must be taken to avoid inadvertently placing paint on the hardwood floor. Otherwise, solvents may have to be used to remove the paint from the hardwood floor, thereby damaging the floor's surface finish and perhaps damaging its colouration. In yet a further example, it may be required to paint door or window frames without placing paint on the adjacent walls or glass panes. Many further examples exist where such painting problems are apparent.
In order to protect one surface from inadvertently receiving paint, two methods are in common use. First, the protected surface may be masked. Masking requires that tape, such as masking tape, attached to a sheet material such as newspaper, canvas, polyethylene sheets or the like, be placed as close to the surface to be painted as possible. Painting may proceed, and in fact paint may be applied over the masking tape and protective covering. When painting of the surface is complete, the masking tape and covering are removed, leaving paint only up to the location where the edge of the tape had been. The disadvantage of this method is that it takes considerable time and effort to ensure that the tape is securely in place at the desired locations, and that it is also securely attached to the protector sheet. Of course, the method also requires the use of bulky and perhaps expensive protector sheets. A further problem is that the protector sheets may be relatively difficult to clean. Furthermore, during the handling of the sheets which may still have wet paint thereupon, such wet paint may inadvertently touch and mar other surfaces or objects.
A second common method is to use a flat rigid sheet as a guard. Such a guard may be made out of any material, but typically may be made of stiff cardboard of sheet metal. One edge of the guard is placed at the desired location and the other edge is held in the hand. Paint is then applied on the desired surface right up to the edge of the guard. When paint has been applied along the length of the guard, the guard is moved to a new location and painting is continued. Use of such a guard results in several disadvantages. Generally speaking, the guard would be held at roughly 90.degree. to the surface to be painted. One hand of the painter is used to hold the guard and to press the guard into place so that paint will not flow underneath the guard onto the protected surface. When paint is applied to the desired surface adjacent the guard, a small amount of paint will accumulate along the edge of the guard. When the guard is subsequently moved, such paint may be free to drip onto the protected surface. This problem is aggravated in the event that the guard is held at an acute angle with respect to the painted surface, such as where it is desired to paint a surface adjacent to or slightly below the top level of a carpet. In such an orientation, it may be difficult for the painter to fit the brush behind the guard without marring the newly painted surface or the handle of the paint brush. A further disadvantage is that, because of the flat shape of the guard, it may be difficult or uncomfortable to hold by hand.
It would be advantageous to provide a paint guard hand tool that is simple and convenient to use. Furthermore such a paint guard would not trap a significant amount of paint between the guard and the painted surface which could drip down onto the protected surface. It would be particularly advantageous if such a paint guard hand tool could be used to paint a surface down to or below the surface of a carpet without allowing paint to contact the carpet. It would also be advantageous if such a paint guard hand tool could be comfortably and conveniently held and manipulated by hand. As well, it would be a further advantage if such a hand tool were self supporting so that both hands of the painter could be free during the actual painting. A further desirable feature would be that the paint guard as far as possible not interfere with the application of paint onto the desired surface. For further convenience, the paint guard preferably has an edge useful for guiding a knife or cutting tool for trimming or cutting wallpaper or other sheet materials.
Preferably the tool can be fabricated at low cost from, eg. sheet metal, and will have two sides and two working edges. By simply turning the tool over from one side to the other, it can be used for a different purpose.